Hi folks--
I am certified to use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator ("MBTI"), but won't hold myself out as an expert. My study of it, however, suggests that it should never be used in any kind of "predictive" sense. It has no validity or reliability for that purpose. The MBTI provides a vocabulary for talking about certain personality preferences, but it does not purport to evaluate or predict abilities or strengths. As a result, it should not be used as a tool for forming work or learning groups (unless your primary teaching objective is a lesson about appreciating difference--see below).
But--and this is important--the MBTI is a highly useful tool for helping small group and team members understand and appreciate one another's differences. As one of the posts below suggests, the MBTI helps students see differences in the way individuals communicate, make decisions, and function in other ways. That understanding and appreciation of difference can help small groups and teams minimize destructive relationship conflict and make the most of their resources, thus maximizing their effectiveness. The MBTI is valid, reliable, and helpful for these important purposes, unlike a limited concept like "learning styles."
In my experience, most of us don't get to choose our work colleagues, so it is essential to understand and adapt to our colleagues' different work preferences if we want our work groups or teams to do the best work possible. I do not have the financial resources to administer the MBTI to my large classes, but I try to convey the same messages about discovering and appreciating your colleagues' different ways of communicating (.e.g. some people need to talk things through out loud, while others prefer some quiet time to think before they speak out--they are not being shy or stuck up, they just want to think before they speak) as part of learning to work well in small groups and teams.
Best regards,
Eileen Scallen
Eileen A. Scallen
Professor of Law
William Mitchell College of Law
St. Paul, MN 55105
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________________________________________
From: Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Sharona A. Levy [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2013 3:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Using "personality types" in team formation...?
One of my colleagues Elisabeth Brauner, an organizational psychologist, had this comment on the original post which I forwarded to her:
"The team/group research folks are divided about the importance of personality because often team dynamics override personality differences. I would also be careful to use this as a recommendation because teams in real life are seldom composed based on the compatibility of their personalities."
- - -
Sharona A Levy
Brooklyn College / CUNY
On Apr 21, 2013, at 15:53, "Jim Sibley" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The vocabulary piece is why I have seen it used
>
> These inventories personally make me uncomfortable because of there close relationship to the failed construct of learning styles
>
> See http://www.theonion.com/articles/parents-of-nasal-learners-demand-odorbased-curricu,396/
> For some fun with learning styles
>
> Jim Sibley
>
> Sorry for brief message -sent from my iPad
>
> On 2013-04-21, at 12:21 PM, "Albright, Alexandra W" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I use Myers-Briggs fairly often to create teams, especially when I really have not much else to work with. Not because I think it is incredibly predictive to make fabulous teams, but because it gives students some vocabulary to talk about their differnces in approaching problems. My students have had fun with it. Here is the link to the test I have them take.
>>
>> http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jim Sibley
>> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2013 10:39 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Using "personality types" in team formation...?
>>
>> Hi Mark
>>
>> Pete Ostachuk in Mech Eng has been using Myers-briggs for over a decade to help in Forming his tbl teams....he has also done some nice research on it as well
>>
>> You can contact him at ostafichuk@ mech.ubc.ca.....I know he is about to head out on sabbatical....once he finishes the book chapter he owes me :-)
>>
>> Jim Sibley
>>
>> Sorry for brief message -sent from my iPad
>>
>> On 2013-04-21, at 8:27 AM, Mark Stevens <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> This message was originally submitted by [log in to unmask] to the
>>> TEAMLEARNING-L list at LIST.CTLT.UBC.CA. If you simply forward it
>>> back to the list, using a mail command that generates "Resent-" fields
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>>>
>>> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (30 lines)
>>> ------------------ Hi all -
>>>
>>> I've been thinking a lot about "personality types" lately, and how they might relate to team performance. I would guess that teams with a mixture of different personality types might perform better than those whose students all have the same personality type, and I would also think that it would be good experience for students to have to work with people that have different personality types from their own, independent of whether exposure to different types serves to increase performance.
>>>
>>> I am curious to know if any of you use personality type (e.g. Myers-Briggs) information to help form teams, and if so, whether you think it's worth the effort. Do you form the teams on the first day of class? When do you ask the students to complete a personality type questionnaire? Do you try to make sure that the personality types are evenly-distributed across the teams, or do you use some other kind of distribution strategy?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> --
>>> Mark Stevens, PhD, MCIP
>>> Assistant Professor, School of Community & Regional Planning
>>> University of British Columbia
>>> 223-1933 West Mall
>>> Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
>>> http://www.scarp.ubc.ca/profiles/faculty/Mark%20Stevens
>>> 604-822-0657
>>>
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